Computer help forum: Can external hard drive backup to several computers?

If XP, plug in the external HDD and from there should be able to 'prepare the drive for use'
Settings, Control Panel, Admin Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management, click on the device and GO>

VAPCMD

with XP. If you use XP there will be no problem "seeing the partitions". As mentioned above, do this.

Plug in the drive. Right click My Computer on the desktop. Click Manage. On the left, click Disk Management. The new drive will now be on the right. Right click the drive and click. . .

Have Win XP, logged in, but only see the first four lines.

Thanks,

MRC

If I am not mistaken, even with XP, it would be PRUDENT and preferable when backing up completely separate computers (not just hard drives) to make partitions for each one.

Anyone working with multiple computers have any real-world experience either way? (with a single partition or multiple partitions on an external USB drive)

Thanks!!
~atheria

What do you suggest when you have a 200gb external drive and several computers to backup and possibly restore?

~atheria

I have four computers. All need to be backed up in case of catastrophic failure.

I am looking at Acronis or other "imaging" software because I know that Windows Backup is terrible, slow and just a pain in the neck. After trying to do a backup off a 20gb drive and waiting over two hours (with no end in sight) I decided to see if I can do better and asking people who HAVE done backups from multiple computers onto USB/Firewire external hard drives how THEY do it sucessfully.

I don't want just the information, I want the system with the ability to do a "rollback" if needed.

Anyone who has done this sucessfully with Acronis or other software, your input would be MOST appreciated!

~atheria

It could make an image of the system and put it back. The partiton scheme would make this fail sooner due to the issue I noted before. At least you could try it and find out for yourself.

In short. Run Acronis and pick a name for the image that makes sense to you.

Best of luck,

Bob

You are more than welcome to try it and then go back to repartition it later. I'm sharing what will happen so you can avoid the issue of having not enough space in a partition, the backup fails, you juggle partition sizes and then the process repeats.

You will find some that love to create many partitions even when there are reasons to have just one.

Bob

Partitions fail, for the most part, when there is too much data on them. So giving each partition plenty of room to breathe is paramount. Also, ANY drive that is not maintained properly, i.e. defragmented on a regular basis, is more prone to failure. We're still talking mechanical movement and as such, the less movement, the longer (in general) the drive will last.

The reason I am using partitions is so that each computer can be backed up easily by my customers who are NOT computer literate. Teaching them about ''folders'' is nigh unto impossible for some to understand - I don't know if any of you have had customers who are just don't get computers and need a massive amount of handholding. I dont' mind at all, and some of my clientel are very computer phobic. Even though they know they need computers and know they need to do backups they also have a very hard time with these concepts so I MUST make it easy for them.

By giving the externals largepartitions, (50+ gigs for 10-20 gig hard drives), I leave plenty of room not only for the backups, but for other files they need to put on the drives from their respective comptuers.

The external is something they can SEE and so they feel more comfortable backing up to the external rather than to an internal which they can't get to. It's a matter of perception for the customer.

I am going to try the partitions and Acronis. I will post my experiences as they come up.

I've been a computer technician for 17 years, (A+ since 1998 - big whooooop riiiiight...) but was out of the loop for about 18 months and now just returning to find a LOT Of hardware changes. Not unusual, so I thought I'd touch base with others who have had experience - always a good thing to do when you ''feel'' rusty.

Thanks!
~atheria

Firewalls and other protections need to be installed on all computers. The firewall at the base computer which hits the internet.

If a ''pest''gets in after all that the computer technician has put all protections in place then that's just the way it is - but at least those protections can be put into action to do as much as possible to preserve the information that the customer/client has. Having it on a hard drive at all is a crap shoot at times, but I am doing what I can to maximize protection while minimizing the outlay for the client.

ZoneAlarm is still the best firewall available for home use. Still free, it protects computers and can be shut off easily. Every other firewall is so intrusive or bulky as to be practically useless.

As for ANTI-VIRUS protection it changes. For now, AVG is the best I have found for personal use that is free for the customer. It takes up little space and is relatively quick. It updates itself on a DSL or Broadband connection quickly but can also be used on a dial-up without going crazy. It has found every virus I've thrown at it and is FREE. Norton and McAfee can't say that and they have both failed me numerous times. Every once is a while I check the net for another free anti-virus knowing that someone will come up with another that someone starts singing the praises of (I found AVG this way) and will check it out for a few months and see if it's faster, will catch what viruses I throw at it and then start using it on client machines. Nothing stays that same forever in the computer world... that's a truism.

Spybot and Ad-Aware when used in tandem are great protection against spyware when updated properly.

Defragmenting is an absolute on ANY hard drive and those who poo-poo it are asking for trouble. I've NEVER had a customer who had a hard drive fail when it was properly protected and defragmented on a regular schedule. What is regular? I tell my clients to use a simple rule and ask them one question; How often do you use your computer? If the answer is ''everyday'' then that's how often it must be defragmented, if the answer is every week then that's their answer also, etc.

In the final analysis, it's about what you DO to protect the computer. I've had some hard drives for way 8 years and older and they are still running. I've done this same formula for many years and most of my clientel have the same results - drives that run without any major problems and few re-installs.

Cheers!
~atheria